Discipline is a vital part of a true church. According to the learned divines it is one of the marks of a true church that it faithfully administers church displine. If it doesn't, then it is not a Biblically constituted church or a true part of the Church of Jesus Christ. I know a pastor personally, who even on a personal level, would never admonish or correct any of his flock, because to quote his words, "It would be not be a nice thing to do, being a Christian." The flames of hell await such false teachers as that, who are willing to let his flock go to hell, than be poorly thought of. But the church he pastors has not the 3 marks of a true church. There was one pastor, no elders, no deacons, an independant church with no one to answer to, or anyone for his congregation to appeal to.

As i have said before, in by-gone ages, when the life of faith for the majority was the whole of life and not just while sat in a church pew on Sunday morning, people met on the hills of Scotland, at risk of their lives, to hold their conventicles, which were highly illegal, but the risk of life and limb, or that of their dearest loves ones could not stop them gathering on the hill-sides of Scotland, to worship the God they loved, and gave their all too, in life and often in death as many were martyred. Nowadays, I have known several cases just personally, where going or attending the public assembly of the saints is burdensome and if a reasonable excuse can be found, even though it would not be reasonable in God's eyes, people will find their excuse to have a get out clause and be in irregular attendance.

In the sixth council of Trull of 680 whose work was completed in 692 at Constantinople to complete the disciplinary work started at the original doomed synod meeting of 680 they stated: "Whosoever was 3 days together from church, without urgent necessity was to be excommunicated." If that kind of discipline, which I'm sure sounds quite austere to some was in place today, the churches would have much fewer members because of the any old excuse to not attend that is so often rife among professing Christians. Now before this austerity is condemned, please note the words, "without urgent necessity" which of course the logical conclusion to that is providential hindrances, things beyond our control, which should make it a reasonable assertion for churches today.

Richard Baxter in his "Reformed Pastor" has a lot to say on the subject of church discipline or lack of it, and how it could be costing souls, as well as turning the world further away from having anything to do with us, or be willing to hear us, because we do not practice as we preach by church discipline being wanting.

I desire not to spur on any one to an unseasonable performance of this great duty. But will it never be a fit season? Would you forbear sermons and sacraments so many years on presence of unreasonableness? Will you have a better season for it when you are dead? How many are dead already, before they ever did anything in this important work, though they were long preparing for it! I know some have more discouragements and hindrances than others; but what discouragements and hindrances can excuse us from such a duty? Besides the reasons which we have already stated, let these few be seriously considered:

(1) How sad a sign do we make it to be in preaching to our people, to live in the willful and continued omission of any known duty! And shall we do so year after year, nay, all our days? If excuses will take off the danger of this sign, what man will not find them as well as you?

(2) We plainly manifest laziness and sloth, if not unfaithfulness in the work of Christ. I speak from experience. It was laziness that kept me so long from this duty, and pleaded hard against it. It is indeed a troublesome and painful work, and such as calls for some self–denial, because it will bring upon us the displeasure of the wicked. But dare we prefer our carnal ease and quietness, or the love and peace of wicked men, before our service to Christ our Master? Can slothful servants expect a good reward? Remember, brethren, that we of this county have thus promised before God, in the second article of our agreement: ‘We agree and resolve, by God’s help, that so far as God doth make known our duty to US, we will faithfully endeavour to discharge it, and will not desist through any fears or losses in our estates, or the frowns and displeasure of men, or any the like carnal inducements whatsoever.’ I pray you study this promise, and compare your performance with it. And do not think that you were ensnared by thus engaging; for God’s law hath laid an obligation on you to the very same duty, before your engagement did it. Here is nothing but what others are bound to, as well as you.

(3) The neglect of discipline hath a strong tendency to delude immortal souls, by making those think they are Christians that are not, while they are permitted to live with the character of such, and are not separated from the rest by God’s ordinance. Also, it may make the scandalous think their sin a tolerable thing, which is so tolerated by the pastors of the church.

(4) We corrupt Christianity itself in the eyes of the world, and do our part to make them believe that Christ is no more for holiness than Satan, or that the Christian religion exacteth holiness no more than the false religions of the world. For if the holy and unholy are all permitted to be sheep of the same fold, without any means being used to separate them, we defame the Redeemer, as if he were guilty of it, and as if this were the nature of his precepts.

(5) We keep up separation by permitting the worst to be uncensured in our churches, so that many honest Christians think they are obliged to withdraw from us. I have spoken with some members of the separated churches, who were moderate men, and have argued with them against separation. They have assured me that they were of the Presbyterian judgment, or had nothing to say against it, but they joined themselves to other churches from pure necessity, thinking that discipline, being an ordinance of Christ, must be used by all that can. Therefore, they durst no longer live without it when they might have it; and they could find no Presbyterian churches that executed discipline, as they wrote for it. And they told me that they separated only pro tempore, till the Presbyterians will use discipline, and then they will willingly return to them again. I confess I was sorry that such persons had any such occasion to withdraw from us. It is not keeping offenders from the sacrament that will excuse us from the further exercise of discipline, while they are members of our churches.

(6) We do much to bring the wrath of God upon ourselves and our congregations, and so to blast the fruit of our labours. If the angel of the church of Thyatira was reproved for suffering seducers in the church (Rev. 2:20), we may be reproved, on the same ground, for suffering open, scandalous, impenitent sinners.

And what are the hindrances that now keep the ministers of England from the execution of that discipline, for which they have so much contended? The great reason, as far as I can learn, is, ‘The difficulty of the work, and the trouble or suffering that we are like to incur by it. We cannot publicly reprehend one sinner, but he will storm at it, and bear us a deadly malice. We can prevail with very few to make a public profession of true repentance. If we proceed to excommunicate them, they will be raging mad against us. If we should deal as God requireth us, with all the obstinate sinners in the parish, there would be no living among them. We should be so hated of all, that, as our lives would be uncomfortable, so our labours would become unprofitable; for men would not hear us when they are possessed with a hatred of us. Therefore duty ceaseth to be duty to us, because the hurt that would follow would be greater than the good.’

Earlier in the same chapter, Baxter wrote:

All Christians value God’s ordinances, and think them not vain things; and, therefore, are unwilling to live without them. Discipline is not a needless thing to the Church: if you will not make a difference between the precious and the vile, by discipline, people will do it by separation. If you will keep many scores or hundreds in your churches that are notoriously ignorant and utterly destitute of religion, and never publicly (nor, perhaps, privately) reprove them, nor call them to repentance, nor cast them out, you need not marvel if some timorous souls should run out of your churches, as from a ruinous edifice, which they fear is ready to fall upon their heads. Consider, I pray you, if you should act in the same manner with them as to the sacrament as you do as to discipline, and should only show them the bread and wine, and never let them taste of these memorials of their Redeemer’s love. Could you expect that the name of a sacrament would satisfy them, or that they would like your communion? Why should you then think that they will be satisfied with the empty sound of the word church–government?

Sadly the lack of this God-given institution and one of the marks of a true church, is in part most likely why we have many ignorant people who have been in church membership and sat in the pews a very long time; a church that has as much of a foot in the world or perhaps more firmly rooted in the world, than it does in heaven, an unsanctified church, and part of the decay and lamentable state of the church today, can in my honest opinion be traced back directly to large parts of the church, neglecting and doing away with this vital part of the life and practice of the true church of Christ. The faithful ministers of Christ, are still administering church discipline as it was given to by God, but the ones that do not, should return to the ways of old and start to implement it.